48 
BULLETIN 25. r. S. DEPAETMEXI OF AGKICULTTTEE. 
transit was experienced by the cattle fed on silage. In general it 
may be seen that the shrinkage in transit was very uniform for all 
classes of the cattle. 
Contrary to the universal opinion that range cattle do not fill as 
well at market as finished cattle, it is to be noticed that there is little 
difference between the fill taken by the grass cattle and the corn-fed 
rattle. The range cattle, however, had the advantage in that the 
majority of them went to market in the early fall, while the weather 
was good and conditions were favorable for a good fill. This was 
not the case with the fed cattle, which experienced some very severe 
weather at market. 
An important point shown in the table is the large fill taken by the 
cattle which were fattened on silage^ They showed the greatest 
gross shrinkage, but the fill taken was so large that the net shrinkage 
on these cattle was the least of all. 
The net shrinkage on all the cattle was very uniform. The figures 
show that as a rule the greatest shrinkage occurs during the first 
portion of the journey. The two exceptions to this are the range 
cattle in transit from 36 to 72 hours and the corn-fed cattle in transit 
from 30 to 36 hours. 
Table 19. — Summary of northwestern work of 1911-12. 
Class. 
Num- 
ber 
of 
ship- 
ments. 
Num- 
ber 
of 
cattle. 
Aver- 
age 
weight 
at 
origin. 
Gross shrink- 
age. 
KB' 
mar- 
Net shrink- 
age. 
Ratio 
of net 
shrink- 
age to 
live 
weight 
at 
origin. 
Range. 
Aver- 
age. 
Range. 
Aver- 
age. 
Range. 
Aver- 
age. 
Mixed range cattle in transit 
Lbs. 
Lbs. 
Lbs. 
Lbs. 
Lbs. 
Lbs. 
Lbs. 
Per ct. 
less than 36 hours 
16 
866 
909 
53-129 
86 
-8- 70 
28 
35-114 
58 
6.38 
Mixed range cattle in transit 
ii 
794 
97S 
46-110 
SO 
13- 56 
1 37 
4-1- 54 
136 
3.68 
Mixed range cattle in transit 
over 72 hours 
695 
1,030 
49- 99 
SO. 
2- 40 
27 
12- 97 
53 
5-09 
Mixed corn-fed cattle in 
transit less than 26 hours. 
6 
27S 
1,218 
59-117 
76 
4- 48 
25 
20- 78 
51 
4. 19 
Mixed corn-fed cattle in 
transit 26-30 hours 
38 
1,209 
1,214 
42-160 
87 
11-110 
36 
9-123 
51 
4.20 
Mixed corn-fed cattle in 
transit 30-36 hours 
19 
527 
84 
20- 55 
39 
18- 88 
45 
4.15 
Silage-fed cattle in transit 
less than 20 hours 
397 
1. 232 
46- 95 
71 
6- 69 
48 
-f7-67 
1.S7 
Silage-fed cattle in transit 
over 20 hours 
n 
438 
1,121 
56-135 
92 
27- 97 
60 
7- 75 
32 
2. 85 
Beet-pulp fed cattle in tran- 
42 
3.623 
61 
1 Not including 153 head for which fill was not ascertained. 
3 This average is unusually low because of one shipment of 107 head which actually gained 7 pounds per 
head after the'fill at marker. If this shipment is left out the average net shrinkage of the remaining 290 is 
raised to 30 pounds. 
CONCLUSIONS. 
THE SHRINKAGE IN TRANSIT. 
Cattle allowed to cool in the station pens at point of origin and 
given a moderate allowance of water and a light feed of hay before 
loading appear to endure the journey with less shrinkage and take 
